Bounds, Roemer named top players

Thursday

Nov 29, 2012 at 1:10 PM

The Daily Leader all-area football team for 2012, featuring offensive player of the year Addison Bounds and defensive player of the year Nate Roemer

Erich Murphy

Naming an all-state quarterback as the area player of the year is a no brainer. Naming someone who was injured and did not play the final two weeks of the regular season as a player of the year says that kid could bring it. Addison Bounds is the obvious choice as the Daily Leader Offensive Player of the Year after leading Prairie Central to the playoffs for the second straight season. He was the most lethal weapon in the area with his size and five-tool ability. Nate Roemer is the Defensive Player of the Year despite sustaining a Lisfranc fracture and not playing after Week 7 for Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland. Generally speaking, football was down in the area this season. Only two teams reached the playoffs and neither got far. Bounds led the Hawks to a 7-3 record, losing a tough contest to Peoria Notre Dame in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs. Bounds threw for 1,933 yards and 24 touchdowns while rushing for 616 yards and 11 TDs. He was named to the IFCA all-state team for Class 4A earlier this month. Bounds leads a group of 13 players on the first-team offense, which is broken down to one quarterback, three running backs, three receivers, a tight end and five linemen. The running backs earning first-team honors this season were Evan Bahler of Prairie Central, Pontiac’s Eric DeMattia and Kody Appel of FCW. The receiving corps was the most difficult to break down because of the number of quality pass catchers in the area. Jordan Algar of Lexington was the top receiver in the area and Kyle Moody of Prairie Central was an all-purpose slot receiver who was key in helping the balanced PC offense. Ian Briscoe missed a chunk of the season but played well enough to be named to the first team in the Corn Belt Conference, as well as the area. Alex Friedman was also a player who didn’t play his position each game due to injuries. In his case, the Pontiac senior was thrown into the quarterback spot because of injuries to the regular QB. Friedman was still good enough to make an impact on Pontiac’s running game, as well as part of the passing game. Four schools are represented on the first-team offensive line. Prairie Central has two players in Tyler Keneipp and Tyler Followell. Joining the Hawks are Pontiac’s Ed Lewis, Matt Gurgone of FCW and Dakota Park of Fieldcrest. Named to the honorable mention squad on offense are quarterbacks Alec Dutko (FCW), Donavan Laible (Lexington) and Bodee Schlipf (El Paso-Gridley); running backs Dustyn Brown (EPG), Triston Dircks (Dwight), Austin Dutko (FCW), Tyler Railey (Fieldcrest) and Nate Roemer (FCW); wide receivers Alex Erschen (FCW), Logan Kolat (Lexington), Ted Lingle (Lexington) and Viktor Hernandez (Prairie Central); tight ends Matt Harrison (FCW) and Austin Hendren (EPG); linemen Vince Murphy (Pontiac), Eli Petersen (Prairie Central), Bobby Raber (Pontiac), Peter Severson (Prairie Central) and Andrew Snyder (Pontiac). Roemer was a force on defense all season, even in his last appearance when he hobbled on the field in an effort to help the Falcons against Tremont late in that Week 6 game. Even with his injured foot, Roemer, a linebacker, made an impact against the Turks playing the front line. When healthy, he was the best defensive player in the area. Joining Roemer on the first-team at linebacker are Friedman of Pontiac, Petersen of Prairie Central and EPG’s Austin Hendren. The solid front four are Prairie Central’s Severson and Jon Kupferschmid, as well as Zach Travis of Pontiac and Klendworth of Fieldcrest. PC’s Bounds and Moody are joined by Pontiac’s DeMattia and Tanner Bertche of FCW as first-team defensive backs. Honorable mention selections are, in the line, Harrison (FCW), T.J. Henson (Dwight), Gavin Padilla (Pontiac) and Jared Rients (Fieldcrest); linebackers Luke Garrels (Pontiac), Austin Mehalic (FCW) and Ed Shafer (Prairie Central); and defensive backs Bahler (Prairie Central) and Erschen (FCW).

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